MANCHESTER High School for Girls showed it is cool to succeed with a set of GCSE results that proved girl power is alive and well.

The all-girls school, which was the alma mater of the Emmeline Pankhurst's daughters, achieved its best ever set of results, enjoying a 99.9 per cent pass rate with an astonishing 74 per cent of all grades at A* and A.

Indeed 36 per cent of all pupils gained a clean sweep of all A* or A grades.

This prompts headmistress Christine Lee-Jones to say: "The results reflect the calibre of the girls who attend the school, where the ethos is 'it is cool to work hard and achieve'. I am delighted that the school's A level and GCSE results continue to improve each year."

Local girls who performed with distinction included Rachel Sweet who gained a clean sweep of nine A* and Esther Spence, who also gained nine A* with an additional A grade.

Both girls live on Dalston Drive in Didsbury Park, attended Didsbury C of E Primary School and have been good friends since the age of four.

Esther wants to go to Oxford and eventually hopes to become a national newspaper journalist while Rachel wants to study modern languages and work as an international interpreter.